• Article

Removing Servers and Server Roles, Removing Enterprise Pools, and Decommissioning Servers and Pools

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 will reach end of support on January 9, 2018. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

If a server or pool is no longer needed, or a server or pool needs to be removed, such as might be required to enable a change in the topology, you have the following options:

  • Removing Servers and Server Roles

  • Removing an Enterprise Pool

  • Decommissioning Servers and Pools

It is recommended that you read the information in each of these sections before determining which procedure to use.

Removing Servers and Server Roles

Some situations require removing one or more servers or server roles. Such situations could be the result of an upgrade, a change in topology, recovery from software or hardware corruption, or other scenario in which the server or server role needs to be changed or removed, but the Office Communications Server environment is intact.

You can use Add or Remove Programs to remove an Office Communications Server 2007 server role. This includes a Standard Edition server, a server in an Enterprise pool, a Mediation Server, an Archiving and CDR Server, Proxy Server, and edge servers.

Warning

Removing a server role can result in the loss of data and settings. Before removing a server, ensure that all data and settings have been backed up and appropriate restoration procedures are in place. For Archiving and CDR Servers, ensure that the backups are created and maintained according to the regulations and requirements established for your organization. It is also a good idea to export user contacts (using the DBImpExp.exe tool, as described in the Decommissioning Standard Edition Servers and Enterprise Pools section).
If the Office Communications Server 2007 environment requires a major change that makes it necessary to completely remove and reinstall all server roles, use the information in the Decommissioning Standard Edition Servers and Enterprise Pools section instead of using the following procedure to remove a Standard Edition server or servers in an Enterprise pool. Also, if extensive changes are required to multiple server roles of a Standard Edition servers and servers in an Enterprise pool, consider using the decommissioning procedures instead of simply removing server roles.
If the Office Communications Server 2007 environment is compromised as a result of a natural disaster or other unplanned event that causes the environment becomes unavailable, see the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Backup and Restoration Guide for information about restoring service.

If removing only an A/V Conferencing Server or Web Conferencing Server, remove the Office Communications Server 2007 components in the following sequence:

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Audio/Video Conferencing Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Web Conferencing Server

If removing a Standard Edition Server or one or all server roles in an Enterprise pool, remove the Office Communications Server 2007 components in the following sequence:

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Audio/Video Conferencing Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Web Conferencing Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Web Components Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Front End Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Unified Communication Managed API v1.0 Redist

If removing an edge server, Mediation Server, or Archiving and CDR Server, remove the Office Communications Server 2007 components in the following sequence:

  • The appropriate server role:

    • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Edge Server

    • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Mediation Server

    • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Archiving and CDR Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Unified Communication Managed API v1.0 Redist

Note

Before removing a Standard Edition server, a server in an Enterprise pool, a Mediation Server, an Archiving and CDR Server, a Proxy Server, or an edge server, deactivate server roles, as described in the previous section, Deactivating Server Roles, in Starting and Stopping Services and Deactivating Server Roles, to remove Active Directory objects associated with it.

To remove a server

  1. Log on to the Office Communications Server 2007 server as a member of the local Administrators group.

  2. In Control Panel, open Add or Remove Programs.

  3. Click Change or Remove Programs.

  4. In the Currently Installed Programs list, click the Office Communications Server 2007 server role you want to remove. If removing a Standard Edition Server or server in an Enterprise pool, consolidated topology, use the information provided previously in this section to determine which server to remove first.

  5. Click Change.

  6. In the Office Communications Server 2007 Setup Wizard, follow the instructions to complete the wizard.

  7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 for each server role on the server, in the sequence described earlier in this section.

  8. After removing the server role(s) on the server, as appropriate, click Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Unified Communication Managed API v1.0 Redist, click Remove, and then complete the removal.

Note

To remove a Web Components Server, you may need to manually remove permissions. During installation, Full Control is granted to the RTC Component Local Group account for the Web and Non-Web folders. If these folders contain any files or sub-folders, the permissions remain after removing the Web Components Server. To remove the permissions from the folders, you can use the Properties dialog box, Security tab of each folder. By default, these folders are installed at the following locations:
%programfiles%\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007\Web Components\Data MCU Web\Non-Web
%programfiles%\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007\Web Components\Data MCU Web\Web

Removing an Enterprise Pool

You might remove an Enterprise pool as part of a change to your environment. For example, to change a pool name you move users out of the current pool, deactivate all server roles in the pool, remove the pool, create a new pool, activate servers to associate them with the new pool, and then move users to the new pool. When removing a pool, you have the following options:

  • Delete user database. By default, the Remove Pool Wizard keeps the user database, which preserves user contacts, groups, and access control entries (ACEs), but you can choose to delete the user database.

  • Force removal of Enterprise pool. By default, the wizard does not remove an Enterprise pool if users are still assigned to it. If you force removal, any users who are assigned to the pool are disassociated from the pool when it is removed. You can later assign these users to a different Enterprise pool or Standard Edition Server.

    Warning

    Removing a pool can result in the loss of data and settings. Before removing a pool, do the following:
       Ensure that all data and settings have been backed up and that appropriate restoration procedures are in place. It is also a good idea to export user contacts by using the DBImpExp.exe tool, as described in Decommissioning Standard Edition Servers and Enterprise Pools later in this topic.
       Move user accounts to a different pool or to the Unassigned users node, as described in Moving Office Communications Server Users later in this guide.
       Deactivate server roles, as described earlier in this guide in Deactivating Server Roles, in Starting and Stopping Services and Deactivating Server Roles, to remove Active Directory objects associated with the pool.
    If the Office Communications Server 2007 environment requires a major change that makes it necessary to completely remove and reinstall all server roles, use the information in Decommissioning Standard Edition Servers and Enterprise Pools, in Starting and Stopping Services and Deactivating Server Roles, instead of removing the pool.

To remove an Enterprise pool

  1. Open Office Communications Server 2007.

  2. In the console tree, expand the Forest node, and then expand Enterprise pools.

  3. Right-click the Enterprise pool that you want to remove, and then click Remove Pool.

  4. In the Remove Pool Wizard, specify the following:

    • Whether or not to keep the user database. Keeping the database preserves existing user contacts, groups, and access control entries (ACEs).

    • Whether or not to force removal of the Enterprise pool. Forcing removal dissociates any existing end users from the pool and disables any existing servers in the Enterprise pool.

Note

To remove a Web Components Server, you may have to manually remove permissions. During installation, Full Control is granted to the RTC Component Local Group account for the Web and non-Web folders. If these folders contain any files or subfolders, the permissions remain after you remove the Web Components Server. To remove the permissions from the folders, you can use the Properties dialog box, Security tab of each folder. By default, these folders are installed at the following locations:
   %programfiles%\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007\Web Components\Data MCU Web\Non-Web
   %programfiles%\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007\Web Components\Data MCU Web\Web

Decommissioning Standard Edition Servers and Enterprise Pools

Some situations require removal of a Standard Edition server or Enterprise pool and rolling back the environment. Such situations could be the result of a disaster recovery, hardware failure, an upgrade scenario, or other situation that makes it necessary to do a complete removal of the Standard Edition server or Enterprise pool.

Most of the steps of the procedures in this section can be completed using the following tools:

  • Office Communications Server 2007 administrative tools snap-in.

  • Office Communications Server 2007 management components for Active Directory Users and Computers.

  • Office Communications Server 2007 snap-in extension for the Computer Management console.

Some steps require the use of command-line tools, including the following:

  • The version of the DBImpExp.exe tool that is available with Office Communications Server 2007. This tool is available from the <drive>:\Support folder of the Office Communications Server 2007 installation media and is also in the <drive>:Program Files\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007\Server\Support folder of a server on which Office Communications Server 2007 is installed.

  • The Ldifde.exe tool that is available from <drive>:\WINNT\system32.

Before decommissioning a Standard Edition server or a server in an Enterprise pool, do the following:

  • Deactivate the server roles on the weekend or holiday, or during other off-peak hours, but only after providing sufficient notice to ensure that users can plan for the down time.

  • Do a combination of the first two options in which you change routes on the Communications Server during off-peak hours, but only after all calls are completed.

Use the procedures in this section to decommission a Standard Edition server or Enterprise pool.

To decommission a Standard Edition Server or Enterprise pool

  1. Before starting, verify that the current RTC database has been backed up. For more information about backing up the database, see the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Backup and Restoration Guide.

  2. If user information is to be restored at a later time, export the user information using the DBImpExp.exe.

    Note

    The new Office Communications Server 2007 DBImpExp.exe tool is required for this operation. Do not use the Live Communications Server 2005 with SP1 version of this tool.
    The Office Communications Server 2007 User Services database (the RTC database) must be available when you perform this procedure, but users should not sign in while you are running the DBImpExp tool. To prevent users from signing in, stop the Communications Server service on the Office Communications Server 2007 server.
    For more information about the DBImpExp.exe tool for Office Communications Server 2007, see the DBImpExp-Readme.htm file in the <drive>:Program Files\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007\Server\Support folder of a server on which Office Communications Server 2007 is installed.

    To use DBImpExp.exe, run the following command from the command prompt:

    dbimpexp.exe /hrxmlfile:"%temp%\SavedUserData.xml"

    Important

    Before proceeding to the next step, verify that the exported file contains the expected information.

  3. Log on to the Standard Edition server or the Front End Server of an Enterprise as a member of the RTCUniversalServerAdmins group.

  4. Open Office Communications Server 2007.

  5. Deactivate the server roles as follows:

    Note

    Before deactivating server roles, it is recommended that you stop the Office Communications Server services to help ensure that no users are connected.
    Only server roles that are installed on the server and activated are available for deactivation.
    Additionally, the Web Conferencing Server is dependent on the Web Components Server, so the Web Components Server role is not available for deactivation until after the Web Conferencing Server role has been deactivated.

    Important

    Each server role is deactivated separately. After the deactivation of each role, as covered below, use the log file to verify that the deactivation status in the Execution Result column (including the status of each deactivation task) for a server role is Success. If there is any task that does not complete successfully, you must resolve the problem and run the Deactivation Wizard again to complete the deactivation before proceeding to the deactivation of the next server role or to the next step.

    • For an Enterprise pool, expand the forest, expand Enterprise pools, expand the server role, right-click the pool, point to Deactivate, and then click the server role you want to deactivate. Deactivate all server roles except the Front End Server, in the following sequence: A/V Conferencing Server, Web Conferencing Server, Web Components Server.

    • For a Standard Edition Server, expand the forest, expand Standard Edition servers, expand the pool, right-click the server, point to Deactivate, and then click the server role you want to deactivate. Deactivate all server roles except the Front End Server, in the following sequence: A/V Conferencing Server, Web Conferencing Server, Web Components Server.

  6. Log on to a computer on which Office Communications Server 2007 administrative snap-in and Active Directory Users and Computers are installed and available, using an account that is a member of the RTCUniversalServerAdmins group.

  7. Disable SIP-enabled users.

    Note

    You can obtain a list of SIP-enabled users, using the ldifde.exe to create the list. For more information about the Ldifde.exe tool, see Using LDIFDE to import and export directory objects to Active Directory at https://r.office.microsoft.com/r/rlidOCS?clid=1033&p1=kb237677.

    To use the ldifde.exe to disable SIP-enabled users, run the following command from the command prompt:

    ldifde -d "OU=Users' OU,DC=Domain,DC=Dom" -l msRTCSIP-UserEnabled:TRUE -f SIPEnabledUsers.txt

    Note

    If SIP-enabled users are in more than one organizational unit (OU), run the command for each OU.

  8. Open Office Communications Server 2007.

  9. In the console tree, delete users from the Standard Edition server or Enterprise pool by expanding the forest, and then doing the following:

    • For an Enterprise pool, expand Enterprise pools, expand the pool name, click Users, right-click Users, and then click Delete users to start the Delete Office Communications Server Users Wizard.

    • For a Standard Edition server, expand Standard Edition servers, expand the pool name of the Standard Edition server, right-click Users, and then click Delete users to start the Delete Office Communications Server Users Wizard.

  10. Complete the wizard to delete all users of the Standard Edition server, verifying on the Delete Operations Status page that the deletions succeeded.

  11. In the console tree, right-click Users, click Refresh, and then verify that no users are listed in the details pane.

  12. In the console tree, deactivate the Front End Server role by doing the following:

    • For an Enterprise pool, expand Enterprise pools, expand the pool, right-click the FQDN of the server, and then click Deactivate.

    • For a Standard Edition server, expand Standard Edition servers, expand the pool, right-click the FQDN of the Standard Edition server, point to Deactivate, and then click Front End Server.

    Important

    Use the log file to verify that the deactivation status in the Execution Result column (including the status of each deactivation task) for the Front End Server is Success. If there is any task that does not complete successfully, you must resolve the problem and run the Deactivation Wizard again to complete the deactivation before proceeding to the next step.

  13. If no other Standard Edition server or Enterprise pool (and no other Office Communications Server 2007 servers, such as a Mediation Server or Archiving and CDR Server) is deployed in the forest or domain (that is, the Standard Edition server being decommissioned is the only Office Communication Server deployment in the forest or domain), use the Unprep task to remove relevant objects and attributes from Active Directory.

    Note

    In the Office Communications Server 2007 administrative snap-in, Unprep is only available when using Show Active Directory Domains of View Options. For more information about specifying view options, see Changing the Domain View and Server Organization View, in Using the Office Communications Server 2007 Administrative Snap-in.
    Running Unprep for a domain removes the access control entries (ACEs) granted to Active Directory universal groups to host and manage users within the domain, which were created when the domain was prepared for Office Communications Server 2007.
    Running Unprep for a forest removes the Active Directory global settings and objects that were created when the forest was prepared for Office Communications Server 2007.
    For more information about the preparation of forests and domains, see the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Active Directory Guide.

    Warning

    Do not run Unprep unless you have deactivated and removed all Office Communications Server 2007 servers (including all Standard Edition servers and all Enterprise pools) and deleted Office Communications Server users from this domain.

    To perform the Unprep task, do the following:

    • To unprep the domain, expand Domains, right-click the domain, and then click Unprep.

      Important

      Use the log file to verify that the Unprep domain status in the Execution Result column (including the status of each Unprep task) is Success. If there is any task that does not complete successfully, you must resolve the problem before proceeding to the Unprep forest task.

    • To unprep the forest, right-click the forest, and then click Unprep.

      Important

      Use the log file to verify that the Unprep forest status in the Execution Result column (including the status of each Unprep task) is Success. If there is any task that does not complete successfully, you must resolve the problem before proceeding to the next step.

  14. Optionally, to verify that all relevant objects and attributes have been successfully removed from Active Directory, run the following command from the command prompt of a Domain Controller:

    ldifde -d CN=Microsoft,CN=System,DC=Domain,DC=DOM -f Microsoft_Container.txt

  15. Log on to the Standard Edition server or Front End Server in an Enterprise pool as a member of the local Administrators group.

  16. Remove Office Communications Server 2007 components by opening Add or Remove Programs, and then locating and removing programs in sequence as follows:

    • If this is an Enterprise pool, click Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Administrative Tools, click Remove, and then complete the removal.

    • Click Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Audio/Video Conferencing Server, click Remove, and then complete the removal.

    • Click Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Web Conferencing Server, and then click Remove, and then complete the removal.

    • Click Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Web Components Server, click Remove, and then complete the removal.

    • If this is an Enterprise pool, click Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Enterprise Edition Server, click Remove, and then complete the removal.

    • If this is a Standard Edition Server, Click Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Standard Edition Server, click Remove, and then complete the removal.

    • Click Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Unified Communication Managed API v1.0 Redist, click Remove, and then complete the removal.

    Note

    To remove a Web Components Server, you may need to manually remove permissions. During installation, Full Control is granted to the RTC Component Local Group account for the Web and Non-Web folders. If these folders contain any files or sub-folders, the permissions remain after removing the Web Components Server. To remove the permissions from the folders, you can use the Properties dialog box, Security tab of each folder. By default, these folders are installed at the following locations:
       %programfiles%\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007\Web Components\Data MCU Web\Non-Web
       %programfiles%\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007\Web Components\Data MCU Web\Web

  17. After completing the removal of each of these programs, locate and delete the \LC Data and \LC Log folders.

  18. In Active Directory Users and Computers, locate and delete the following RTC service accounts:

    • RTCComponentService

    • RTCGuestAccessUser

    • RTCService

  19. In DNS, delete the DNS SRV and Host records by doing the following:

    • Expanding the forward lookup zones, selecting the domain zone, and then locating and deleting the pool Host A record.

    • Expanding the domain zone, expanding _tcp, and then locating and deleting the _sipinternaltls and _sipinternal SRV records.

    • If appropriate, deleting the Web Farm Internal/External records. (This is required if you have created non-default external and internal Web farm URLs, with the appropriate host records in the DNS forward lookup zone for the domain to represent these Web farm URLs.

  20. Remove the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 certificate by opening the Certificates snap-in, expanding Certificates (Local Computer), expanding Personal, clicking Certificates, and then locating and deleting the certificate issued to the FQDN of the Standard Edition server or the pool name of the Enterprise pool.